Hotel Baltic - Rome, Italy 

Adequate hotel, indifferent staff.
Posted: Thu, Jun 19 2008
The hotel is at the top end of 20 Septembre near the Porta Pia and is easy enough to find as there is a sign opposite the hotel. The staff are either polite or just plain ignorant depending who is on duty. One of the guys on reception (glasses, balding, 50ish) was totally uninterested when we complained about something going missing from our room. They pretend not to speak English or understand but I'm pretty sure they do know enough. I noticed one of the other reviewers had Room 25 which was also our room. It was basic with a small toilet/wet room. My main gripe was the noise - there is so much of it. The walls seem to be be paper thin. You can hear everything and I mean everything! The reception/dining room are one and the same. On one occassion we left the 'do not disturb' tag on the door handle but this was ignored by the maid. Oh and the doors, what is going on with those door handles? Maybe it was just ours but it seemed redundant. I've stayed in far nicer hotels and do not consider this to be particularly good value for money. Cheap does not have to mean tatty. A lick of paint would go a long way. Courteous staff would be a bonus too. I think the equivalent of a one star hotel would be a tent in a field.

Very basic hotel - take ear plugs
Posted: Wed, Jun 11 2008
I have just returned from a 4 day trip to Roma, fantastic City but disappointing hotel. We booked a room for 3 (no 25) which consisted of a big double bed and a pull out single bed. I suppose this would have sufficed had the bathroom not stank after a hot day and getting a decent nights sleep due to the constant banging of doors impossible. This isn't necessary the hotels fault but it is a major factor that would put me off staying again and stop me recommending to other travellers. Towels were changed on a daily basis. The breakfast is adequate (the usual continental) although a little off putting at first eating in the small reception area but we got by. The staff ranged from unhelpful to helpful depending on what day of the week you landed at reception! They kindly provided a packed breakfast on our last day due to an extremely early flight which we were grateful for. At ?36 per night I'd say isn't value for money but Rome is extremely expensive to stay at, we stayed at the Madison last year for the same price and it was a much better experience.